


Fly Away Home

by TheFlightlessLark



Series: Fly Away Home [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, F/M, Skrulls - Freeform, Widowed, too many relationships to handle.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-14
Updated: 2014-01-18
Packaged: 2018-01-08 16:35:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1134963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFlightlessLark/pseuds/TheFlightlessLark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stark Tower is in for its toughest challenge yet. A new group of aliens has invaded earth, known as Skrulls, and they are nearly invincible. Meanwhile, Clint has just proposed to Pepper, and they have a beautiful baby girl on the way, but will they be able to remain together through the trials of the Skrull Invasion?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue/Chapter 1 Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, first things first.  
> Confliction is on hold for awhile until i figure out what the actual fuck I want to do with the plotline.
> 
> SECONDLY. This is the most un-cannon thing in the entire universe. It's based off of an RP group that Im in, in which I play Pepper, and Pepper is with Clint. Pepperhawk. Caw caw.
> 
> THIRDLY. There are so many fucking relationships going on in this. We got Tony/Loki, we got Bucky/Natasha, we got Peter/Bruce. All of the ships! AHAHAHAH
> 
> And LASTLY. This will be posted in bits and pieces. It's just a casual little fic, nothing serious.  
> I do appreciate any feedback that i can get though. It makes me happay.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.  
She lay wide awake in the far-too-large bed, swimming in a vast sea of silken sheets and pillows. The clock on the wall announced the passing of each second with a loud tick, echoing through the silent room like a clap of thunder. The ticking taunted her, reminding her that time had not stopped. Life was still going on. Just not hers. Or his……..  
Shifting into a sitting position, Pepper sighed. She looked down at her battered hand, covered in bruises and lacerations, at the broken arrow she held in a death grip. One of Clint’s last arrows, fired in the battle that had stolen him from her. The battle he’d promised to return from. Her heart clenched as she whirled through a vivid flashback. Blood dripped down her face, mingling with her tears as she watched Clint’s- no, Hawkeye’s- mangled body falling through the air at a breakneck pace, her throat tearing as the shrill scream ripped through it. “NOOOO!!!!!!” And the sickening thud of his body smashing into the unforgiving concrete below.  
She squeezes her eyes shut, blocking out the fresh memory, a still bleeding wound. Standing up quickly, against the screaming protests of her aching spine, she rests a protective hand over her abdomen, shielding the only thing left of her lover from harm. Little Sabrina. Their precious unborn daughter, who would never have the chance to meet her father. Never hear him laugh at Pepper’s horrible cooking skills. Never look into those crystal blue eyes, swimming in their depths and never wanting to look away. Feeling all of his love for her in just one warm gaze.

“Stop that,” She chastised, yanking herself out of the tangled web of memories. She took a few stiff paces towards the door, only to stop abruptly and attempt to swallow the hard lump forming in her throat at the sight of his spare bow, hanging innocently on the door hook. The bow that he had used in the battle had been obliterated, smashed in his fall. This bow had not participated in the fight that had killed her fiancé. But why did her heartbeat quicken with anger and grief when she caught sight of it? Before she could realize what she was doing, she had the bow in her hands, knuckles white as she gripped it. With the speed of a striking cobra, she hurled the sickening thing against the wall with all of her strength.

“You took him from me! You did this!” Yes, that was it. If it weren’t for his skill in archery, he’d never had been recruited for the battle in the first place. He’d still be with her, with his child. The heavy recurve bow smashed into the wall, leaving a considerably sized dent in the plaster before clattering to the ground, unscathed. Pepper sank to her knees, fresh tears streaming down her face as her body shook with sobs.

“Why did you go?” She choked, her fingers curling into the plush carpet. The carpet that Clint has insisted upon. She nearly tore up a handful of it in her desperate grief. "

You promised you’d come back! You promised!” Her tears plastered her pale red hair to her cheeks, adding to her already disheveled appearance. Stretching out on the soft carpeting, she rested her tear-streaked face against it, closing her eyes tightly and trying to block out the cloud of memories circling her head. But the cloud grew thicker and blacker, and the fiery rain of remembrance began to shower down on her. And she began to drown…

**24 Hours Earlier….**

“Clint! How many times have I asked you to put this in the closet? I’m tired of seeing it laying on the floor.” Pepper stood, holding the bow, one hand on her hip in typical-Pepper-sass mode. Clint poked his head out of the bathroom, a toothbrush protruding from his mouth, and he grinned around it sheepishly.

“A lot of times.” His words were garbled by the toothbrush. Pepper pursed her lips and not so gently tossed the bow into the closet, earning a very manly shriek of horror from Clint.

“Pepper! Be gentle with her!” He rescued his bow, clutching it to his chest like a starving man would a loaf of bread.

“Katniss is a very delicate creature. She needs to be treated with respect.” He ran a calloused hand along the sleek black metal of the bow. Pepper snorted.

“Katniss? Really? That’s the last time I let you read any of my books.” After setting the bow -Katniss- on a shelf in the closet, Clint ambled over to Pepper and snaked his arms around her waist, settling his hands on her swollen stomach.

“You can be the Peeta to my Katniss, Pep,” he grinned into her hair, chuckling. Pepper rolled her eyes.

“I’ll be the Haymitch to your Katniss. Get yourself together, Hunger Games. Tony wants to see us in the Common Room.” A look of something between jealousy and regret flashed across her face, and it didnt escape Clint’s notice. He stroked her cheek gently.

“Hey,” he murmured. “It’ll be okay.” She pulled away from him, tying her hair into a loose ponytail and grabbing his hand. “Let’s go.”  
Halfway down the stairs, Pepper was already out of breath. She clutched at the stitch in her side, cursing under her breath.

“I am getting so out of shape,” she complained to Clint, who watched her with a little grin on his face. Then, in one swift motion, he scooped her legs out from under her and pulled her into his muscular arms. She gave a squeal of terror and surprise, digging her fingers into his shoulders as he clumped noisily down the stairs with her.

“Clint, I swear to god!” She said breathlessly, arms wrapped around his neck tightly. “If you drop me-“ Her words were cut off as Clint pressed his lips to hers. Pepper sighed into the kiss, her protests melting away. Pulling back, Clint gave her that crooked smile of his.

“Would I ever let you fall, Pep?” She couldn’t help but give a tiny smile back.

“No. But there’s a first for everything.” Clint gave a chuckle.

“Well, today will not be that day. We’ve got a briefing to attend.” With that, he jumped down the last 3 stairs and walked briskly into the common room, Pepper still in his arms.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the most disorganized thing I've ever written, XD
> 
> Please don't hate me for all the non cannon ships. I just love them so much.

Much to her horror, everyone had already arrived in the room and seemed to have been waiting on them. Several heads turned their way, and Clint strode over to the couch, plopping Pepper down and sitting down next to her, as if nothing had happened. Tony gave Pepper a knowing look, a wry smile on his face, and Pepper coughed nonchalantly, her face growing red. Clint laid an arm across her shoulder and tugged her closer to him.  
“As I was saying before Hawky and Bride of Hawky interrupted me with their blatant PDA-“ Pepper’s face got even redder, and Clint beamed at everyone. –“We suspect that the battle we’ve been anticipating is happening today.” Natasha, who had been standing behind Tony, took a few steps forward to address the group.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it- this is war. A war we may not win unless every single one of you plays the part you’ve been assigned.” She raked her fierce green stare over each person in the room. “Tony and Thor, you already know that you’re the basis of our defensive line. You’ll be holding down the fort. Bucky and I form the main offensive unit, along with Sif.” She ignored Thor’s growl of protest at Sif being part of the attacking unit. “Calm yourself, Thor. Sif is capable of handling herself on the battlefield.” Sif gave her fiancé a smug look, but softened it with a kiss to his scruffy cheek. He gave a halfhearted grunt in response, trying to look disgruntled but failing miserably.

Natasha turned her sights on Peter and Bruce. “Banner, you’re to stay here and help those who can’t fight. These Skrulls we’re up against are shapeshifters, and we can’t have them copying the… other guy.” Bruce tenses, and Peter lays a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

“I understand,” the doctor replies, and looks at his young love gratefully. Pepper smiled despite herself. Peter and Bruce were the cutest couple she’d ever seen. Snarky, tenacious Spider-man and his shy Hulk.

She caught Natasha staring dead at her, and was snapped out of her thoughts. “As I was saying,” Nat went on, the faintest hint of a smile on her lips at her friend’s spacey behavior. “Pepper and Loki will stay here. Neither of them are in any condition to fight. And I do mean that as an order,” Her green gaze drilled into Pepper, making herself clear that no arguments were to be made. An equally intimidating blue stare bored back into Nat.

“I won’t go looking for trouble. But I’m not just going to let the Tower be overrun if it gets broken into. I can still squeeze into that suit.” She grinned, thinking of the Iron Man suit Tony had modified for her, even adding in a long, deadly sword that extended and retracted from the armpiece of the suit. They’d called it Joan of Arc, and Pepper had fallen in love with it. She had even been scheduled to fly out in the offensive unit with Nat, Bucky and Sif. But all that changed when she found out she was expecting. The suit had been stowed away in the recesses of the lab. “Out of sight, out of mind,” Tony had told her. Yeah. Right.

  
“Clint, you’re going to be with Peter. You both have expertise with projectile weaponry, so I expect to see you two perched up in some high place, picking these things off like fish in a barrel. Got it?” Clint gave his old partner a thumbs up.

“Yes ma’am. Spidey and I got this.” Peter grinned widely.

“I can’t wait to try out these new web shooters I got. They’ve got crystalline web!” He bounced excitedly in his seat, earning a chuckle from Bruce.

  
Bucky stood up from his crouched postion near the door. “So we start this thing immediately. Everyone, suit up. Or whatever. I need you all in position in the next half hour.” He turned and strode out of the room, fingers flexing impatiently. Natasha gave them all a curt nod and followed after him.

“Well.” Tony chuckled. “Everyone got that?” He sauntered over to Loki and placed a kiss on the crown of his head. “Hold down the fort. Don’t let Pepper eat the kids.” He shot her a cheeky grin before turning and walking from the room, whistling cheerfully. Pepper rolled her eyes at his antics before turning to Loki.

“Well, then. Guess we’re stuck then. You’ve got you and Tony’s kids to look after, and I’ve got this.” She gestured to her stomach, then sighed. “I have the worst timing ever.”

The corner of Loki’s mouth twisted into a smile. “Well, as you said, we won’t just be sitting back if anything happens. I’ll conjure your suit up if the need arises.” Pepper gave him a grateful smile, and then jumped as she felt someone set their hands on her shoulders. She twisted her head around, craning her neck to see who it was, and had her question answered before she could even lay eyes on the person as a set of lips crushed into hers, kissing her hungrily. Clint pulled back from her, and laid a gentle hand on her face, his thumb brushing her cheek.

“I’ve got to go soon,” he told her, fixing her in his warm, crystalline gaze. She looked back up at him with pleading eyes round with fear.

“How soon is soon?” She asked, trying to keep her tone nonchalant, but failing miserably. He gave her a weary smile.

“As soon as I suit up and grab my bow. You can come with me for that, though.” His eyes sparkled mischievously, and Pepper couldn’t help but smile.

Standing up quickly, she tugged on his sleeve, towing him towards the stairs. Once again, Clint scooped her up into his strong arms, and ignored her protesting grumbles as he ascended the stairs. As the two neared their room, Pepper wriggled out of his grasp, giving him a look.

“I think I can manage from here,” She said, not unlovingly. She pushed open the door and quietly walked over to the closet, pulling out his uniform from its recesses. With an anguished look, she handed it over to him. “Here. Put this on.”

She fought to keep her voice level and emotionless. Clint took the clothing in his calloused hands, running a thumb over the form fitting material and sighing. As much as he’d missed wearing it, he wished it didn’t have to be like this. He knew how upset Pepper was that he was going off to fight, and she had to sit and watch, helpless. He peeled off his shirt, revealing a chiseled, yet scarred chest. Pepper bit her lip as she saw the numerous old wounds etching his skin, as she always did. Clint’s brows furrowed in worry, and he reached out a hand to rest under her chin, tilting her face towards him.

“Hey.. It’s gonna be okay. Everything’s going to be fine. We’ll take out these alien things, and I’ll be back before you know it. I promise.” He gave her a weary smile. “Have I ever broken a promise to you, Pepper?” His other hand reached around to pull her against his chest, and he buried his face in her soft red hair. “I’d never leave you. You know that. I need you to be strong for me. For little Sabrina. Can you do that, sweetheart?” Pepper nodded, her face buried against his shoulder.

“I can do that,” she replied in a barely audible voice. Clint smiled into her hair, then set his hands on her shoulders, pulling back to gaze down at her. “That’s my girl. And Pepper? No matter how bad it gets, I don’t want you joining in. You need to protect yourself. Protect Sabrina. Okay?” He looked sternly at her. She looked away. “Okay.” He didn’t seem to notice her crossed fingers, tucked behind her back.

 

Pressing a gentle kiss to her lips, he sighed. “I’d better get ready. Could you grab my boots for me, Pep? They’re in the closet, under Katniss’s shelf.” Upon hearing the name, Pepper rolled her eyes, but moved over to the closet and plucked out the sturdy pair of combat boots, dropping them by his feet with a loud clunk. He’d just finished tugging on the tight uniform, and was strapping his quiver over his shoulder. Pepper noticed that it was freshly stocked with arrows. Not normal arrows, either. These looked particularly deadly. Noticing her puzzled expression, Clint grinned. “Explosives, poisoned tips, and paralysis arrows. Clint doesn’t place nice when aliens threaten his world.”He shuffled over to the closet and gently lifted Katniss from its rack, running his fingers over the bow’s smooth black metal before turning to look back at Pepper. “You have to admit, she’s a beauty, isn’t she?” His chest swelled with pride the way it always did when he spoke of his bows. Pepper snorted.

“She’s a real charmer. Just like her owner.” Clint rested a hand on his heart in mock modesty.

“You speak too kindly, my dear. Im flattered.”

Then, a shrill, piercing wail sliced through their lighthearted banter. The Stark Tower emergency alarm. Clint’s eyes immediately hardened at the sound, and he quickly switched from Clint Barton, loving husband and overall dork, to Hawkeye. Trained assassin. Lethal. He seized Pepper by the wrist and pulled her out into the hallway. Loading an arrow into his bow, he pulled the string taut and did a quick sweep of the halls before lowering it, grabbing onto her again and hurriedly tugging her down the stairs. Pepper’s heart thumped out a staccato rhythm as she allowed herself to be dragged down to the ground floor.

“Stay here,” Clint ordered, herding her over to where Loki stood. “I’ll be back, I promise.” With that, he tilted her face towards his and kissed her gently. Then, turning on the heel of his boot, he headed out into the madness unfolding just outside the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback please?


	3. Bye Bye, Ms American Pie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TADAAAHHH  
> More bullshit, for your entertainment.

There were Skrulls everywhere. The humanoid reptiles swarmed the streets, destroying everything in their paths. Thor and Tony stood back to back as the Skrulls advanced, covering each others’ weak spots. A burst of blue light issued from Tony’s armored hand and knocked about five of the green-scaled creatures off of their feet. With a loud battle cry, Thor raised Mjolnir to the sky. Electricity began to crackle around the mighty hammer, and a split second later an enormous bolt of lightning ripped through the clouds and to fry any Skrulls unfortunate enough to have been in its path. The thunder god gave a low chuckle.

“They seem to be very… conductive,” he laughed, nodding towards the blackened bodies littering the streets. Tony flipped up the red and gold mask of his suit and grinned at Thor.

“You used a science word! I’m touched!”  
A whirlwind of red and black flew past, interrupting them.

“Don’t get cocky. This is just getting started.” A very disheveled and blood spattered Natasha stood in front of them. She squinted up at the rooftops, shielding her eyes from the harsh afternoon sun with a blood encrusted hand. “Anyone seen Barton or Parker yet?” Tony rolled his eyes.

“Uh, no. Sorry. We’ve been a little too busy with alien attackers to babysit Spidey and HawkHawk. I’m sure they’re up there somewhere,” he added more gently. “You know them. They’d never miss a good fight.” As he spoke, one of the wounded Skrulls began to stir. It raised itself from the ground with a loud hiss and flung its broken body at Tony. The horribly wounded creature sank its long claws into Tony’s armor as though it were warm butter. But then, the creature fell back, wailing, and crashed onto the ground. It gave a final hiss and died, a long arrow protruding from its left eye. The three heroes stared at the arrow, then looked behind them, catching sight of Hawkeye grinning down at them from a fifth story office window.

“You owe me one, Stark!” Tony rolled his eyes and flipped his mask shut.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll build you a nest or something. How’s that?”

Back inside the tower, Pepper paced the immaculate marble floors. She winced at every little sound from the battle, her body aching to be out there defending her loved ones. Loki looked up at her from holding the triplets. How he managed to balance all three children in his arms at once was beyond Pepper.

“Ms. Potts, I do believe you are unnecessarily worrying yourself. Do have a seat. Wearing a hole in the floor from your pacing will benefit no one.” Pepper shot him a look, but sighed, realizing that he was right. She perched lightly on the edge of the couch and stared up at the ceiling. She allowed herself to grow lost in the whirlwind that was her mind, spinning around and around in her thoughts. Loki arched a dark brow.

“I may not be a mind reader, but I consider myself to be something close. For your own sanity, I’d advise you to banish those dark thoughts from your mind. Barton knows how to take care of himself, as do the rest of the Avengers. They’ll be fine. You don’t see me getting all worked up over Anthony, do you?” he asked, a smirk flitting across his face. Pepper snorted in laughter.

“Tony’s too obnoxious to die. Besides, you’ve given him the Golden Apple. He’s immortal now. Nothing can-“ She cut off abruptly, tilting her head to one side. “Do you hear that?” She asked, her voice wavering. A dull roar was beginning to rumble through the tower. Its intensity shook the building to its very core, loosening plaster and causing wiring to rip from the walls. Loki’s eyes widened as he watched the building begin to destroy itself, and quickly latched onto Pepper.

“Loki? What’s-“ The world began to melt around her, and she felt the floor give way. But instead of crashing into whatever lay beneath the floorboards, she felt nothingness. Nothing but an eerie silence and inky darkness. Then, a burst of green light so intense that she had to shield her eyes from its harsh rays.

“You can open your eyes now, Ms. Potts.” The amused purr from behind her snapped Pepper back into her senses. She opened her eyes and took in the ravaged scene. Dead Skrulls covered the ground. Windows lays in sparkling shattered piles of glass on the blood splattered pavement. She quickly scanned the piles of dead for anything human, and sighed in relief when she found none.

“They’re okay.” She told Loki, who nodded back at her. Taking a step forward, she felt her foot catch on something on the ground. A broken arrow. Her hand automatically reached down to pluck it up, her fingers curling around the broken shaft desperately. “They’re okay,” she repeated. “He’s okay.”

“Bye bye, Ms American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry!” Clint fired off another volley of arrows into the swarm of aliens, dropping quite a few of them. Tony stood back to back with him, picking the creatures off one at a time with his arc blasters.

“And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye!” Then they both turned to face a huge Skrull, grinning at each other before singing the next lyric together.

“Singing this’ll be the day that I die. Oh this’ll be the day that I die!” They blew the Skrull to pieces, Clint’s explosive arrow taking off its head and Tony’s blasters pulverizing its body. As chunks of the Skrull rained down on the pavement, Tony slapped Clint on the back, grinning from ear to ear.

“Nice work, Chicken Little.” Clint rolled his eyes in response and leapt up onto the awning of a small shop before climbing onto its roof.

“Hey, Metal Man. Race you to 50 kills.” Tony flipped his mask down, laughing. “You’re on!” He lifted into flight above Clint and grabbed the archer by his shoulders, lifting him into the air. “I’ll carry you, Hawky. Can’t have you getting all tuckered out before round two, can we?” Snorting, Clint replied, “Guess not. Then you’d actually have to do some fighting yourself.” Tony pretended to hiss in pain. “Cold, bird boy. Cooooold.”

  
As they peaked the next building, the sight waiting below made their hearts drop to their stomachs. Complete desolation. A pile of dead Skrulls lay off to the side of the battleground, and a broken, battered Avenger lay on the other side. Thor. The mighty thunder god moaned in pain from a gruesome leg wound. Natasha, who was still fighting a huge alien, wasn’t much better off. But at least she was on her feet.

“You go to Nat; I’ve got Thor,” Tony ordered. Clint nodded quickly and landed on the ground, dashing over to Natasha just in time to take the brunt of the Skrull’s claws across his torso. In the brief moment of confusion that followed, Natasha deftly beheaded the vile creature and kicked its body away for good measure. Clint crumbled to the ground, panting.

“Way to go, Red,” he managed to choke out, giving his ex-partner a weak smile.

“Shut up,” came the reply. Natasha dug around in the pockets of her catsuit until she plucked out a small vial, and uncorked it with her teeth. “Hold still. This will sting.” She tipped a few drops of the pale orange liquid onto Clint’s wound, and the archer ground his teeth in pain but said nothing.

“There. That will stop the bleeding and numb the pain. Until we can end this and get some real medical attention.” Flexing his arm appreciatively, Clint looked at the Widow.

“Special SHIELD stuff?” he asked. Natasha shook her head, her blood speckled curls bouncing.

“No. Red Room’s secret healing serum. I like to keep it on hand.” She stood up and offered Clint a hand. Gratefully, he took it and hauled himself to his feet.

“Tony! Is Thor okay?” He called out, taking a step in their direction. As his foot hit the ground, however, a deep rumbling noise echoed around them, and the earth vibrated beneath his feet. “What the hell” He muttered, looking around. He caught sight of Natasha, who stared up at the sky with wide, terrified eyes. Wondering what on earth could possibly frighten the Black Widow, he followed her gaze to the sky, sucking in a breath at what he saw. Skrulls. Hundreds of thousands of them. So many that their numbers blotted out the sun. Suddenly, the song he and Tony had sung so cheerfully as they fought came back to him, the lyrics ghosting around his head hauntingly.

 

  
**_This’ll be the day that I die……_ **


	4. The Day the Music Died

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of attempted ansgt in this one.
> 
> Also, the italicized words are a another part of the song that Clint and Tony sang in chapter 3.  
> Just sadder. And oh god, that was painful to write.
> 
> Listen to this. Right now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAsV5-Hv-7U

“Avengers! Defensive formation!” Tony’s hoarse voice struck through Clint’s thoughts, shaking him out of the trance he’d fallen into gazing at his impending death. He leapt into place beside Tony, and a shaking but intact Thor. Natasha fell in beside them, yanking her handguns out of their holsters.

“Where are Sif and Bucky” Tony asked, eyes locked on the approaching cloud of enemies.

“They took off following a small squadron of the things and haven’t come back yet. Im beginning to-“ Her words were cut off by a shrill battle cry, and a blood drenched figure leapt into position beside them. Several decapitated heads hung from her belt, and she carried one on the tip of her spear.

“Late, as usual Sif,” Clint chastised. The Asgardian warrior tossed her thick, dark hair.

“As you mortals say, better late than never.” Bucky came trudging up next, looking more annoyed than anything. He grasped Nat’s hand briefly before getting into place opposite from Thor.

“Everyone ready? This is our last stand.” Natasha’s voice rang out clear and determined, and it seemed to fill everyone with new courage. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” Clint replied, shooting a grin at Tony. Despite the lighthearted response, he was terrified. This was indeed the last stand.

“Hawkeye. Fire, now!” The order came from Tony, and Clint nearly dropped his bow in his haste to obey it. He sent an explosive arrow flying straight at the leading Skrull and the resulting explosion took out a good number of them. Bodies rained down onto the city as the Avengers took out Skrull after Skrull. Things were actually looking good.

“Loki.” Pepper’s voice was deathly quiet with fear. The trickster god didn’t heed her, though. He was busy looking at the burnt body of a Skrull.

“Thor. It had to have been him. He’s the only one brash enough to overkill his enemies.” Loki rolled his eyes and moved on to the next pile of bodies.

“Loki!” Pepper repeated, more urgently.

“Yes, what is it, Ms. Potts?” Loki answered, nonchalantly nudging a Skrull with the toe of his boot.

“Look. Over there. Is that what I think it is?” Giving a snort of laughter, Loki turned to see what she was referring to.

“It would help if I knew what you thought it was. I told you, im not a mind rea- Oh, by the Norns……” His snarky reply died off into a horrific whisper as he realized what the large cloud gathering over the center of the city was. “They’re outnumbered! Hopelessly!”

He seized Pepper by the arm and uttered some sort of incantation, instantly transporting them to the battlezone.  
The arrival of the two newcomers seemed to draw in the attention of the Skrulls, for almost every one of them abandoned the Avengers for the much easier prey. Confused, Tony whirled around to see what had stolen the attention of the alien invaders, and saw a pair of figures backed against a wall, one with a ball of green magic in its hand, growling menacingly at the creature. The other looked absolutely terrified, standing defenseless behind the first. He let out a scream.

“Loki! Pepper!! What the fuck are you doing?” He blasted his way over to them, shoving Pepper roughly behind him, knowing Loki could at least hold his own. “What were you two thinking?!?” He angrily fired a volley of blasts into the oncoming Skrulls, knocking them out of the air. Loki snarled at his husband, eyes spewing green flame.

“The building collapsed on us! What were we supposed to do? Be crushed to death?” The sorcerer shot a bolt of magic at the nearest alien and sent it reeling backwards into its companions. Tony growled, but said nothing, knowing Loki was right.

“Are you two okay, at least?” He looked back at Pepper, who stared at the Skrulls with wide blue eyes. “Pepper? Are you okay?” He repeated. She snapped her gaze back to him and nodded quickly. He sighed in relief. “Good. Clint should be around here somewhere. I’ll get him to take you somewhere safe.”

  
The fear in Pepper’s eyes suddenly morphed into anger. “Im not helpless, Tony! I can fight, too!” Tony rolled his eyes.

“Pepper. You’re 5 months pregnant. You’re not doing anything. It’s bad enough I’ve got Loki out here, when he’s supposed to be taking care of the kids. Speaking of which, where are they? Are they safe?” Loki gave him an undignified look.

“Of course they’re safe,” he snapped. “I teleported them to Asgard. Frigga is watching over them as we speak. Did you think I’d just tote our children off into a huge battle, without a thought for their safety?” Raising his hands in defense, Tony shrugged.

“Hey, I’m just a worried father. Don’t judge me too harshly, Lokes.” He brought his gauntlet up to his face and peered at a tiny display on the side of it. “JARVIS, contact Agent Barton for me. Tell him I’ve got something for him.” The display glowed brightly for a moment, then faded, and JARVIS’s voice rang out of the suit.

“Right away sir. Shall I tell him what the “something” is?” Tony grinned.

“Imported spices.” Pepper rolled her eyes.

“You’re so childish.”

 

  
Up on one of the rooftops, Clint’s communicator began to beep loudly. He yanked it off of his utility belt and looked down at it, sliding his thumb across the touchscreen to activate the device. Instantly, he heard the voice of JARVIS, loud and clear even through such a small piece of equiptment.

“Mr. Stark requires you to come down. He has Ms. Potts with him. I will not tell you what he tried to get me to say to you.” The communicator died off, leaving a blank screen. Clint stared at it with an equally blank expression on his face, before crushing the device in his hand.

“Pepper,” he murmured, looking out across the rooftops. Sure enough, down on the street wedged between a wall and Iron Man was the love of his life.

“God damn it. I told you to stay inside!” He muttered to himself, preparing to leap down onto the street below. Before he could move, however, a Skrull zipped past him, nearly throwing him off of the roof with the gust it blew across him. His heart thudded painfully as he realized where it was headed. Straight to Pepper. It must have sensed how defenseless she was compared to the others, and considered her an easy kill. The vile creature was flying at a breakneck pace at his pregnant fiancé, far too fast for even Iron Man to stop it, even though he stood mere yards from Pepper. But not too fast for Hawkeye’s bow.

 

He knew that standing on the rooftop, he wouldn’t be close enough for the arrow to have the momentum it needed to kill the Skrull. And he had no time to climb down the building. Clint squeezed his eyes shut for a brief second, realizing what he had to do.

“I love you, Pepper,” he whispered, before leaping off of the building and loading and arrow in midair, firing it at the flying Skrull. His arrow found its home in the filthy thing’s neck and exploded, scattering the beast everywhere. The other Skrulls turned to see what had happened, and let out anguished cries. This had been their leader. They howled in agony, calling out for the archer’s blood. Several of them rose into the air and charged at Clint. Their claws ripped and tore at him, opening horrific wounds all over his body.

 

  
“Clint! NO!” Tony’s hoarse cry echoed off of the buildings and deep into Pepper’s mind. She had turned just in time to see the arrow pierce through a Skrull’s neck; a Skrull not more than 20 feet away from her. She’d barely managed to duck in time to avoid the explosion of alien innards that spattered the wall behind her. Then, Tony’s scream had pierced into her very soul. She followed his agonized gaze up to the sky, where 3 Skrulls held the love of her life up by his arms, slowly opening long gashes across his chest and back, cackling wickedly as his blood dripped onto the pavement below.

“CLINT!” She shrieked, instinctively running towards him. A pair of hard, cold hands held her back. Tony.

“Pepper, you can’t! It’s too dangerous! You’ll be killed too!” Tears dripped down her face as she struggled against the iron grip. “Do something then!” She sobbed, trying desperately to yank herself free. “He’s dying!!”

Tony gave her an anguished stare, trying to will her to realize that by now, Clint might prefer to be dead. Thick ribbons of flesh hung off of the archer’s body, his wounds pouring more blood than Tony would have thought humanly possible. But he turned to Loki, and gave him a pleading stare. The sorcerer nodded, and aimed a burst of energy at the Skrulls. Before he could fire, however, the monsters dropped Clint’s ragdoll body and dispersed, shrieking triumphantly for their revenge. They all watched in agony as the mangled body fell through the air in what seemed like slow motion.

  
 _A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile_

Tony’s heart twisted, and he bowed his head, knowing that there was nothing that could be done. He kept a firm hold on Pepper, desperate to keep her safe, to protect his best friend when he’d failed to protect her lover.

_And I knew if I had my chance_  
 _That I could make those people dance_  
 _And maybe they'd be happy for a while_

 

Loki turned his face away from the gruesome scene, feeling something deep within him stir. Pity. Sorrow. Emotions he didn’t know he felt, for anyone besides Anthony. Such trivial emotions they’d seemed to be. A waste to use them on anyone but those closest to you. But here he was, feeling them for someone he’d thought he’d had to compete with, since she had been Tony’s lover before he. And he couldn’t bear to watch her face twist with the most intense grief imaginable. He lowered his emerald gaze to the ground.

_I can't remember if I cried  
When I read about his widowed bride_

 

Things were moving far too slow. Each second that passed felt like a lifetime as that broken body fell through the air. The longer they didn’t watch, the more guilt they felt. The more they thought about what they could have done…

  
 _But something touched me deep inside…_  
 _The day…_

_  
_When would this nightmare end? When would they all wake up and realize that this was all a dream? That everyone was okay? That the girl being restrained wasn’t crying out her fears to the sky, begging to be let go to save her lover. “I’ll catch him! Please! Let me go, I have to catch him! He’s falling, let me go!”

_The music…._

 

 

Clint slammed into the unforgiving concrete, the noise impossibly loud. It struck deep into each of their souls. Not a single person would forget that noise, not as long as they lived. Nor would they forget the almost unhuman cry that came from the dead man’s lover as she finally broke free of her bonds, only to sink to the ground, staring at the ragged mess that had once been hers. The sound of a heart snapping into too many pieces to ever be put together again.

  
 _**Died.** _

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback please? I'd like to know how to improve or what to do differently.


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